Off Key

The Mighty Wurlitzer: How the CIA Played America, Hugh Wilford, Harvard University Press, 2009. 342p

I am beginning to think the creation of the CIA is the worst thing to happen to America.  First I read Proudy’s The Secret Team (reviewed here).  Then I read the Invisible Government. Now I get music lessons.

The Mighty Wurlitzer details how from 1947 to 1968, the so called golden years of  American espionage, the CIA used front organizations to fund its Cold War propaganda operations.  The name comes from Frank Wisner, a major CIA officer, who made the  statement that the Agency had a system of front organizations that like a giant organ could play any propaganda tune.

It played many tunes, mostly with sour notes.  There was almost no aspect of American life that did not have a chord in this performance.  The Agency used various foundations to fund everything from labor unions to student associations.  It used Catholic priests, Africian-American dissidents, and a lot of news organizations.

Most of the people used did not know the true source of their funding.  Only the most senior officers of these front organizations were, in CIA language, “witting.”  However, a good many of the “unwitting” suspected that the immediate source of funding was not the ultimate source.  Few objected to taking the money.

The golden age ended and the Wurlitzer fell silent, sort of, when an upstart, iconoclastic publication, Ramparts, published a story about the real funding of the National Students Association.  A former head of the Association, recently disaffected by the CIA’s use of his group, told Ramparts’ editor of the matter.  The magazine conducted an investigation, found out the truth, and published it.

The CIA had found out that the story was due in the next issue, of the Agency went into defensive mode.  When there were prior exposures of Agency involvement, the Agency and the organization affected strongly denied the claims until both parties had to admit the claims were true.  Denial was not going to work this time.  By the late 1960’s the mood of the country had changed.  The Agency new it had to do something different.  It chose damage control.  The idea was to emasculate  the magazine’s story by making it old news.  The National Students Association would simply hold a press conference admitting to the taking of Agency money.  It would also say that it no longer took such funds (this is true).  But Ramparts had informants inside the Association and knew of the plan.  To counter this, the magazine took out full page newspaper ads promoting the the story.  In a sense the magazine scooped itself.

This stratagem worked very well.  There was enormous media coverage of the story.  The Agency was embarrassed.  This was the real end of the Wurlitzer.  The major news organizations had long cooperated with the Agency, running stories favorable to the Agency and suppressing stories the Agency didn’t want published.  No more.  Or so we are told.

I found Wilton’s story interesting, but his writing style is dull.  There frequent usage of the tried and true cliche.  There are modifiers that are throughout the book misplaced.

The Wurlitzer had a long recital, but played the wrong tune.  The Agency spent millions in this propaganda effort, yet the results were minimal.  Given the Agency’s support of even more nefarious projects, the Wurlitzer concerts are just a minor cacophany.

[Via http://heyrandy.wordpress.com]

Where Angels Fear - Sunny Frazier, Author

Where Angels Fear – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

Revelers writhed to the discordant music. Masks covered many of the faces, leaving identities to the imagination, but not much else. Conversation was confined to body language.

“This is the main dance area so people can get acquainted,” Connie-the-tour-guide explained. “There’s a small stage up front for exhibitionists, and smaller rooms for shy types. They’re wired for close circuit TV for voyeurs. The torture room is still under construction on the second floor.”

Christy Bristol chided herself for agreeing to make a house call. All she needed was the birth date to do a horoscope. But the client insisted on a “face-to-face meet.” And as Christy finds out, the horoscope isn’t for her client but for her husband… who is missing. Thus starts Christy’s voyage into the world of S&M, through a secret club called the Knights of Sensani. Admittance to this club is through a red matchbook, three of which were found on three different men that ended up in the morgue. Christy was given her matchbook by her client who’s husband it turns out is a member of this elite group. And according to his horoscope, his time to be rescued is running out. Will Christy find him before he turns up in the morgue? Or will Christy end up there herself? Travel with Christy and her ex-roommate Lennie as they take on this after dark world of erotic sex and torture in their attempt to save her client’s husband.

When I read Fools Rush In, which was the first of the Christy Bristol Astrology Mysteries, I thought Frazier had peaked in her writing and that there was no way she could top Fools Rush In. I have to admit that I was wrong. Where Angels Fear is even better and will keep you wondering who and why all the way to the end.

[Via http://latenightreading.wordpress.com]

I like it contemporary.

So some of you out there know that I love reading romance. My favorites tend to be contemporary romance (like romantic comedies…Notting Hill, French Kiss, 10 Things I Hate About You, The Ugly Truth.. if you need movie examples). For the past few years, though, contemporary romance has gone on the back burner. Paranormal romance took over the scene and now historical/regency romance is making a huge comeback. And there’s a type of contemporary that’s picking up as well… The Adirondack kind (you know what I mean). Debbie Macomber, Robyn Carr. Contemporaries about small close knit groups or set in a small town. Not quite the romantic comedy that I long for (still good…don’t get me wrong).

Because contemporary romance is heading in that direction and there still isn’t much of it coming out new lately, I’ve turned to contemporary YA to get my fill. And oh, it does its job well. Here are two that I just read for my fix of contemporary teen romance:

The ABCs of Kissing Boys
(Tina Ferraro)

Very cute story about first love, first kisses, and real friendship. Parker is a junior who didn’t make it to the varsity soccer team. She devises a plan to make it back on the team, but needs the help of her next-door-neighbor, Tristan, a 15 y/o, 6′ tall, muscular freshman (with all the moves of someone more experienced).

I enjoyed this book about teen betrayal, true friendship, and overcoming the odds. Another great addition to the contemporary YAs out there.

The Boyfriend List
(E. Lockhart)

If you happened upon a boyfriend list that had 15 boys on it and the list was written by a 15 year old girl (and you were in high school) you might think she was a slut too. Because at that age, judging other people is easy.

But Ruby Oliver is just misunderstood. The 15 boys…not all of them actually were boyfriends. In fact, she had barely said two words to some of the boys on her list. It was just an assignment to help her figure out why she was having panic attacks, but it ended up being part of the problem.

This book makes you start wondering what your boyfriend list would look like. (Mine would probably have footnotes. Love the footnotes.) In fact, I might go type up a boyfriend list right now. It’d be fun. Right?

THE BOYFRIEND LIST was a fun ride following Ruby Oliver’s boyfriend history and transition from sort-of popular to complete leper

BookKids Interview with Debut Novelist Isabel Kaplan!

When I first saw the cover of Hancock Park, I knew I had to read it.  When I heard Isabel Kaplan was an 18-year-old novelist, I was excited to see what this young voice had to offer.  When I read the first page, I was hooked.

Taking place at LA’s elitest high school, Hancock Park is an enlightening take on rich girl drama, presenting a human side to every character the reader encounters.  Becky Miller, the protagonist, confronts the issues of queen bees, friendships, boyfriends, and scandals, all while maintaining a 4.0 and  struggling to keep her mental health in check.

I asked Isabel to talk to us about her debut novel, and this is what she has to say:

BookPeople: Hancock Park is a refreshingly real novel about life for upper class teens in L.A.  Where did the inspiration for this story come from?
Isabel Kaplan: The inspiration for Hancock Park came from my own childhood and my experiences growing up in Los Angeles as well as the experiences of those around me. Los Angeles is such a unique (and sometimes crazy) city, and I wanted to write a story about growing up in that world.

BP: The media is currently saturated with Gossip Girl and its many copycats.  Hancock Park draws an easy comparison.  But I sense a real soul to your book that other stories in this setting lack.  How did Gossip Girl et al. influence - positively or negatively – your writing?
IK: Gossip Girl explores the lives of privileged kids growing up in New York, and Hancock Park is about the LA version of that, so there is certainly a comparison there. I think the major difference between Hancock Park and Gossip Girl is that, in Hancock Park, my goal was to explore that privileged Los Angeles world through the eyes of a girl who doesn’t feel quite at home in it and is struggling to find her place and also understand the value systems at play in Los Angeles. That said, the Gossip Girl books do include clever and funny social commentary, and I hope Hancock Park does, as well!

BP: Being fresh out of high school yourself, how do you think teens will relate to the story of Hancock Park and the characters you’ve created?
IK: I wrote Hancock Park while I was in high school, and I think that did help me in developing an authentic narrative voice. Being a teenager is really tough, no matter where you grow up, and although some aspects of Becky’s life and the lives of the other characters are L.A.-specific, there are many parts of the story that I think all teens can relate to—whether it be divorced parents, mean ex-boyfriends, or how to look “classy slutty” for a Halloween party.

BP: For such a young writer – any writer, really  – you have an extremely strong, developed voice.  When was Isabel-the-Writer first born?
IK: Thank you! I’m still working on developing my voice and growing as a writer. I remember writing my first short stories when I was in the second grade. For Hanukkah, when I was seven, my absolute favorite gift was a ballpoint pen that was painted gold, which tells you something! I have always loved to write.

BP: The teenage experience is different for everyone.  At the same time, I think we all struggle through it.  Without giving too much away, what do you think of the choices that Becky makes when it comes to friendship?
IK: I agree! Although everyone’s adolescent experiences are different, I think most people would agree that it’s a struggle, and one of the things that makes being a teenager so difficult is the attempt to find a place where you “fit” in your social world. This is something that Becky tries to come to terms with, and her choices when it comes to friendship definitely reflect this struggle.

BP: Every writer channels themselves and their lives into their work.  Many of your characters seem like people we all know from high school, in some form or another.  Did you base Becky’s supporting cast on anyone in particular?  What about Becky herself?
IK: When I was in the process of writing Hancock Park, I was surprised by the number of people who would come up to me and ask, “Am I in it? Are you putting me in the book?” Or, even, “Can I be the bitch in the book?” – I was shocked! Because the book is named after the neighborhood I grew up in, and because I was sixteen and writing a novel about a sixteen-year-old in Los Angeles, it is of course easy to draw a comparison and say that the book is autobiographical. But no, the characters in Hancock Park are not based on real people from my life (sorry, guys!).

BP: The L.A. of Hancock Park feels very different from the L.A. we see on MTV.  For those of us who haven’t been to your neck of the woods, how does the backdrop for your book compare to real life in Los Angeles?
IK: The Los Angeles of my book is pretty true-to-life, or, true to my experiences of it, at least. In real life, Hancock Park is a neighborhood very similar to the one described in my novel, as are the various places and situations Becky travels through during the course of the book.

BP: Psychotherapy and antidepressants are hot topics right now, and they play a major part in Hancock Park. While I’m a big believer in psychiatry, I think you – and Becky – have really highlighted the dangers of depending on the wrong shrink.  Do you have any words of wisdom for teens struggling to take care of their mental health?
IK: I think psychiatry can be a very useful and important tool, and I would recommend seeking help to any teen who is really struggling with his/her mental health. That said, it’s really important to work with a psychiatrist or counselor who is responsible and with whom you have a trusting relationship—that’s certainly something Becky struggles with throughout the book!

BP: I loved the Model United Nations scenes in your book.  MUN really keeps Becky grounded and makes her a real person.  To write as in-depth as you did about MUN, you must have some experience.  Do you have any tips for students who want to get involved with MUN?
IK: I was very involved with international activism in high school. I did MUN for about a year, and I enjoyed it, although I wasn’t as involved in my school’s chapter as Becky is. There are tons of MUN conferences all over the country and world each year. If you’re interested in getting involved and there’s not a Model United Nations club at your school already, then you can start one! The United Nations website has info about how to go about doing that.
What was particularly important to me about the MUN club that Becky runs is the way she strives to help the communities and countries that her team is researching and representing (which is not an aspect of the official Model United Nations program.) There’s a lot of criticism in the world about the efficacy of the United Nations system, some of which I do think is warranted. Model United Nations is a great way to learn a lot about international affairs and diplomacy, but I also think it’s really important to get involved with activism and grassroots efforts.

BP:While I realize you must be pretty busy with school at this point, you must have plans for your next novel.  Can you tell us what you’re working on?
IK: My next novel is indeed in the works! As of now, it’s still in beginning stages, and when I’m at this stage, I keep everything pretty top secret (partly because I’m still figuring it all out), but I will keep you posted!

BP: Becky  – and her many transformations – was so fun to read about!  Will we be seeing any more of her in the future?
IK: I’m so glad you enjoyed reading about Becky! As of now, I don’t have plans for another book about Becky…although who knows what the future has in store!

Thanks so much to Isabel Kaplan for taking the time to talk to The BookKids Blog!  We hope you’ll join us in wishing her masses of success with her debut novel, Hancock Park!

Jerry Burchfield - Understory

Photographs copyright of Jerry Burchfield 2009 courtesy of Laguna Wilderness Press

Jerry Burchfield’s recent (2009) photobook Understory: Florida Lumen Prints, is his sequal to his 2004 photobook Primal Images, both of which utilize his camera-less photographic process to create his unique Lumen prints. The subject of this book has shifted from the plants and flora of the South American Amazon to a little closer to home at Florida. Burchfield was commissioned to create a mural size Lumen print (10 x 30’) of the pine flatwoods ecosystem (first image, below).

As a result of his commission, Burchfield had the opportunity to investigate the vegitation and plants in the vacinity where the mural was going to be created. His investigative studies for the mural project provided the Lumen prints necessary to create this book. Burchfield provides the background for both creating the Pine Flatwoods Mural and the supporting specimen studies during the preparation of the mural.

As I had mentioned in my review of Burchfield’s Primal Images, his photographic process dates back to the earliest of the photographic process. This is a camera-less process by William Henry Fox Talbot, a salt print contact printing process invented in 1841. Like Talbot’s process of over a hundred and fifty years ago, there is still an element of unpredictability, serendipity and chance in obtaining the final results.

By this time, Burchfield has achieved a certain control over his Lumen printing process, but he is still at the mercy of the environmental elements. He can determine to a certain degree the composition of the specimens on the paper, but will they stay there if a chance strong wind occurs, even when secured under a glass sheet? How transparent is his specimen, and will he obtain a dense shadow or a whisper of the specimens internal structure? When the specimens for the big mural are laid out, will it be a sunny day, partly cloudy or as it can happen in Florida, a chance of mid-day showers? How high will the heat and humidity rise and how will all of that affect the light sensitive paper chosen for the mural?

In preparation for the mural, Burchfield varied the size of his “test” prints as a result of the wide range in the size of his specimens. With access to a land-based studio area, his average print size increased from 8 x 10” to 16 x 20”. For this project, Burchfield had a consistent access to larger light sensitive paper to produce an intact print versus the need of multi-papers for his largest specimens.

Although Burchfield’s large mural is a negative contact print, it reads similar to an ultraviolet photograph. Landscape compositions created with infrared film is reactive to growing items that reflect UV light, which gives them their trademark whitish tonalities. Due to the nature of the contact printing process, where the specimen contacts the light-sensitive paper the ensuing line and shape has a sharp delineation. As the specimen recedes away from the light-sensitive material, the resulting shapes have softer edges and less delineation. The combination of sharp-edge/soft-edge effects result in an image that appears that it could have been created on a foggy day. Especially if the photograph was created with the lens wide open and a shallow depth of field, some parts sharply defined, and others not, as the scene appears to recede into the background mist, haze, or fog.

The pace of the objects within the mural is irregular and appears as a natural landscape. The recreation of nature is similar to what you would expect when viewing a natural museum’s diorama. Burchfield has repeated some shapes, with intermittent tall columns that represent dense trees, light and translucent leaves through the center and occasionally at the top of the mural, and on the base, intermittent shapes and masses of grasses, fern fans and low vegetation.

Like his earlier Amazon project, the range of colors, tonal patterns, shapes and mass that have been captured in his prints is still magical. These photographs can also represent the transitory nature of our environment. In Burchfield’s mural, I see that large, solid trees do cast a strong shadow, but these same trees hold delicate leaves that are semi-transparent and fragile. We may think that the trees can last forever, but the tree’s very existence is highly dependent upon their vulnerable leaves. I think that Burchfield’s message is that our ecosystem, no matter how robust and invincible that it may seem, is at great risk to changes in the balance of nature.

The Forward was written by Kevin Miller, the introductory essay by Burchfield and Afterword written by Don Spence. 

Jerry Burchfield’s recent (2009) photobook Understory, is his sequal to his 2004 photobook Primal Images, both of which utilize his camera-less photographic process to create his unique Lumen prints. The subject of this book has shifted from the plants and flora of the South American Amazon to a little closer to home at Florida. Burchfield was commissioned to create a mural size Lumen print (10 x 30’) of the pine flatwoods ecosystem (first image, below).

As a result of his commission, Burchfield had the opportunity to investigate the vegitation and plants in the vacinity where the mural was going to be created. His investigative studies for the mural project provided the Lumen prints necessary to create this book. Burchfield provides the background for both creating the Pine Flatwoods Mural and the supporting specimen studies during the preparation of the mural.

As I had mentioned in my review of Burchfield’s Primal Images, his photographic process dates back to the earliest of the photographic process. This is a camera-less process by William Henry Fox Talbot, a salt print contact printing process invented in 1841. Like Talbot’s process of over a hundred and fifty years ago, there is still an element of unpredictability, serendipity and chance in obtaining the final results.

By this time, Burchfield has achieved a certain control over his Lumen printing process, but he is still at the mercy of the environmental elements. He can determine to a certain degree the composition of the specimens on the paper, but will they stay there if a chance strong wind occurs, even when secured under a glass sheet? How transparent is his specimen, and will he obtain a dense shadow or a whisper of the specimens internal structure? When the specimens for the big mural are laid out, will it be a sunny day, partly cloudy or as it can happen in Florida, a chance of mid-day showers? How high will the heat and humidity rise and how will all of that affect the light sensitive paper chosen for the mural?

In preparation for the mural, Burchfield varied the size of his “test” prints as a result of the wide range in the size of his specimens. With access to a land-based studio area, his average print size increased from 8 x 10” to 16 x 20”. For this project, Burchfield had a consistent access to larger light sensitive paper to produce an intact print versus the need of multi-papers for his largest specimens.

Although Burchfield’s large mural is a negative contact print, it reads similar to an ultraviolet photograph. Landscape compositions created with infrared film is reactive to growing items that reflect UV light, which gives them their trademark whitish tonalities. Due to the nature of the contact printing process, where the specimen contacts the light-sensitive paper the ensuing line and shape has a sharp delineation. As the specimen recedes away from the light-sensitive material, the resulting shapes have softer edges and less delineation. The combination of sharp-edge/soft-edge effects result in an image that appears that it could have been created on a foggy day. Especially if the photograph was created with the lens wide open and a shallow depth of field, some parts sharply defined, and others not, as the scene appears to recede into the background mist, haze, or fog.

The pace of the objects within the mural is irregular and appears as a natural landscape. The recreation of nature is similar to what you would expect when viewing a natural museum’s diorama. Burchfield has repeated some shapes, with intermittent tall columns that represent dense trees, light and translucent leaves through the center and occasionally at the top of the mural, and on the base, intermittent shapes and masses of grasses, fern fans and low vegetation.

Like his earlier Amazon project, the range of colors, tonal patterns, shapes and mass that have been captured in his prints is still magical. These photographs can also represent the transitory nature of our environment. In Burchfield’s mural, I see that large, solid trees do cast a strong shadow, but these same trees hold delicate leaves that are semi-transparent and fragile. We may think that the trees can last forever, but the tree’s very existence is highly dependent upon their vulnerable leaves. I think that Burchfield’s message is that our ecosystem, no matter how robust and invincible that it may seem, is at great risk to changes in the balance of nature.

The Forward was written by Kevin Miller, the introductory essay by Burchfield and the Afterword writte by Don Spence.

 

  

  

By Douglas Stockdale

A Circle of Souls - Preetham Grandhi, Author

Naya was afraid. She didn’t want to stay in this hospital. She thought it seemed different from the other, regular hospitals, even though she had never stayed in any sort of hospital before. This hospital didn’t seem at all like the hospital her classmate had described after having her tonsils removed. Besides, Naya didn’t even feel sick.’

The hospital Naya has been admitted to is the psychiatric section of the Newbury hospital. Naya was taken to the hospital’s emergency room after what her parents believed to be a suicide attempt. What would cause a 7 year old to attempt a jump off the balcony of her room? That’s what Dr. Peter Gram must find out before she tries it again.

While working with Naya, Dr. Gram finds that while sleeping, Naya goes into a trance like state. In her dreams she carries on conversations with someone that only she can see. Upon waking, Naya draws pictures of her dreams including the person she talks with. In one of her pictures she draws an elephant and a young girl who’s body has been dismembered. When Dr. Gram questions Naya about the picture she tells him about the girl, the conversation she had with her and the even the girl’s name. But what do these disturbing pictures mean and who is the girl?

In an area not far from the hospital, 5th grader Janet Troy is missing. When her book bag is found on the property of Senator Thomas Bailey, the FBI sends in their best agent Leia Bines to direct the search. When Agent Bines and Dr. Gram come together they discover a connection between Janet and Naya’s drawings giving them the clues needed to hopefully find out what happened to the missing Janet.

A Circle of Souls was not only a book that kept my attention from beginning to end but also a book that enlightened me in the care of children in the psychiatric units of these special hospitals. And who better to write this story than a doctor devoted to the care of these special children… Dr. Preetham Grandhi

Confessions Of A Foodie Part II - Kids Love Food, Too!

In celebration of my foodie obsessions . . . here’s a top 5 list for the kids!

Top 5 Food-Related Children’s Books I Love:

1. How Are You Peeling?  by Saxton Freymann and Joost Eiffers (Arthur A. Levine Books) – Foods with moods.  I am more than happy to find daily reminders of this creative childhood obsession on the counter of Pratt’s Pie Shop cafe.

2.  Strega Nona by Tomie DePaola (G. P. Putnam’s) – I got my nickname “Strega Nona” from manic episodes of all-nighter pasta-making . . . and shouting children’s book references (”I’m f*ing Strega Nona!”) as I attempt to cook my own recipes.

3.  Jamberry by Bruce Degen (HarperCollins) – A small child’s bacchanalia.  Really.

4.  Gingerbread Houses For Kids by Jennifer A. Ericsson and Beth L. Blair (White Birch Press) – Shameless plug for my mother’s self-published cookbook.  But seriously, making gingerbread houses is my favorite winter activity, and no one does it better than they do. 

5.  Chicken Soup With Rice by Maurice Sendak (HarperCollins) - 

In July I’ll take a peep

Into the cool and fishy deep

Where chicken soup is sellin’ – cheap! 

Selling once, selling twice, selling Chicken Soup With Rice!

Jerry Burchfield - Primal Images

Copyright Jerry Burchfield, 2004 courtesy Laguna Wilderness Press

I am very fascinated by the photographic prints created by Jerry Burchfield for his two recent books, Primal Images: 100 Lumen Prints of the Amazon Flora,  published in 2004 by Laguna Wilderness Press and subsequently Understory, published this year (2009), also by Laguna Wilderness Press. Burchfield has used a camera-less photographic process that harkens back to the beginning days of photography to create these wonderful images of plants and flora. So to set the stage for his latest book Understory, I need to begin with Burchfield’s earlier book, Primal Images.

Although Burchfield calls his resulting photographs “Lumen” (light) prints, his camera-less process is almost identical to that utilized by William Henry Fox Talbot, a salt print process that Talbot invented in 1841. Talbot called his resulting prints calotypes, and it was the first step he made in creating the photographic process that we know today. The calotype, as are Burchfield’s Lumen prints, is a “negative” image created by the shadow of an object on the photo-sensitive medium. When Talbot contact printed his negative salt print to another salt paper, he created the first “positive” image.

These camera-less photographic process prints have been given many names, including calotypes, photogenic drawings, photogram, sun prints, contact prints, and numerous others. Regardless, it is amazing that one of the oldest photographic processes in the hands of a photographer, such as Burchfield, still has the capability to provide plenty of artistic potential today.

For Primal Images, Burchfield made three trips to the Amazon River basin to collect plants and other organic samples to create his Lumen prints. In many ways this was a daunting task, because of the conditions to collect and create his Lumen prints on site, and not finish the print processing until his return to Southern California. He was able to “post-visualize” his work in-progress but only at the end of the day after his Lumen printing was completed. If his Lumen print did not turn out has he had hoped, he had to search for another specimen the following morning and start the printing process over again.

To add to the complexity, the results of his photographic process can not be duplicated, as each print is an original. Each print is unique due to the quality of light (e.g. if clouds were to occur, which they do, as well as rain and changes in relative humidity), the nature of the sample (organic leaves will shrink and wilt after they have been cut) and what light sensitive material that he had available. For his first trip, the printing process must have been a series of trial and error, but the immediate visual results must have been amazing.

The resulting lumen prints are the result of a combination of experience, with the printing process and materials under the conditions of the Amazon, with serendipity and chance, as Burchfield could not fully predict the results. Since the prints are but shadows of the specimens, another difficult factor to consider was the amount of translucency of the specimen. Would Burchfield’s specimen block all of the light for his Lumen print and provide just a hard outline of his object? Or would a partial amount of light be transmitted, thus creating a soft shadow? With some experience, I am guessing that Burchfield could anticipate that certain aspects of his printing process might yield a range of effects. Burchfield could control which specimens he selected for his lumen prints and how these specimens were arranged on the light sensitive materials. After that, he was at the mercy of the environmental conditions of the day and the interaction of the sunlight, his specimens and how the light sensitive material progressed on that specific day.

Burchfield also varied the size of his prints as a result of the wide range in the size of his specimens, although most were able to encompass an 8 x 10” paper.  But there were specimens, such as the Lemore Rana that spanned a sheet of 11 x 14” paper (third print below), or specimens that required a 16 x 20” sheet of light sensitive paper or even multiple sheets to expand the image size to 33 x 28″, such as when he was working with a giant lily pad.

The resulting lumen prints are wonderful and I can see why he returned again and again to continue this project. Likewise, almost a hundred years earlier, Talbot after all that he had invented for the photographic and printing processes we are in debt for today, had returned back to his calotype prints of plants and flora as his primary expressive photographic process.

Burchfield states that he was surprised by the range of colors that his “black and white” light sensitive materials yielded, as am I. With a black and white enlarging paper, you might not expect to have a broad range of color images. The resultant broad range of colors is also a similar effect that Talbot experienced with his salt prints in the mid 1800’s. The resulting colors, patterns, shapes, tonal graduations and lines within each of these prints is very unique and captivating. I understand that the content of his prints is unpredictable, but to Burchfield’s credit, he remains open to the process and the results.

The resulting images do not actually provide very much descriptive details of the plants, foliage or flora and it would be difficult to identify them in their nature habitat. I find that Burchfield’s lumen prints do provide a visual description of the spirit of these plants and hint at their essence. The slight traces of these plants on the prints are almost eerie in their lack of substance and seem like abstract line tracings. As a result, I find that most of these lumen prints are just outright magical to look at. The specimens just seem to dance on the surface of the print, leaving only an every so light touch of their physical presence behind.

The forward was written by Wade Davis and the introductory essay was provided by Johnathan Green. In the afterword written by Burchfield, he discusses his experience in completing this project, which is an interesting read. Jerry Burchfield is a co-founder of Laguna Wilderness Press as well as a professor of photography and the director of the photographic gallery at Cypress College, Cypress, California.

  

   

By Douglas Stockdale

REVIEW: The Art of Intrusion by Kevin Mitnick

 

 

The Art of Intrusion:
The Real Stories Behind the Exploits of Hackers, Intruders, and Deceivers.

Kevin Mitnick a well known hacker, turned security consultant after being captured and prosecuted, shares stories not of himself (per say), but of other hackers willing to share their stories with him. 

I must admit, the book is very well written and intended as an educational tool for anyone that reads it. Not in the sense that your are taught how to hack, but Kevin presents the information in a way that leaves the reader with a good sense of vulnerability. Each chapter represents a different aspect of intrusion along with commentary and lesson’s learned.

You do not have to be a computer geek to read this book, but those that are will still find it very captivating. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the mind set behind the hackers who share their experiances and wish to utilize the information in a way that brings added personal and corporate security to light.

the Black Robe

Winterfield: “I respect still more my own liberty as a free Christian.”
Benwell: “Perhaps a free thinker, Mr. Winterfield?”
Winterfield: “Anything you like to call it, Father Benwell, so long as it is free.”

In the Black Robe, Father Benwell divides a couple and conquers the impressionable husband so that the Church may reclaim land Lewis Romayne had inherited. Being the intellectual writer that he was, Wilkie Collins adds depth to the straightforward plot through psychology, deceit, power struggles, and relationships. The novel is full of Victorian England’s religious views and biases and Collins’s usual social commentary about domestic issues and the plight of women.

“The Catholic system here showed to perfection its masterly knowledge of the weakness of human nature, and its inexhaustible dexterity in adapting the means to the end.”

The differences between Father Benwell and Arthur Penrose are like night and day. When Penrose tells his superior that he doesn’t like concealing his Catholicism and priesthood, Benwell tells him he has dispensation that absolves him of the responsibility. He then assigns Penrose with the undercover task of converting Romayne so that the land which was confiscated during Henry VIII’s reign may be “lawfully” returned to the Church. Benwell later reports that:

“The zeal with which this young man has undertaken the work of conversion entrusted to him has, I regret to say, not been fired by devotion to the interests of the Church, but by a dog-like affection for Romayne. Without waiting for my permission, Penrose has revealed himself in his true character as a priest. And, more than this, he has not only refused to observe the proceedings of Romayne and Miss Eyrecourt- he has deliberately closed his ears to the confidence which Romayne wished to repose in him, on the ground that I might have ordered him to repeat that confidence to me. To what use can we put this poor fellow’s ungovernable sense of honor and gratitude? Under present circumstances, he is clearly of little use to us.”

Although religious prejudices abound in the Black Robe, it’s through the portrayal of the Church’s spiritual aristocracy, its priests, and characters’ comments, Victorian England’s anti-Catholicism sentiments are crystal clear. Penrose entreats Romayne to remain a Protestant if he still has objections or doubts to becoming a Catholic. Romayne later says that if Jesuit priests were honest and had integrity like Penrose, he would easily be converted. The opinionated Mrs. Eyrecourt calls her son-in-law a “weak, superstitious, conceited, fanatical fool” and says:

“The audacity of these Papists is really beyond belief. You remember how they made Bishops and Archbishops here, in flat defiance of our laws? Father Benwell follows that example.”

She also refers to Father Benwell as Judas Iscariot and tells him she wished he were a Jew because:

“Learned persons have told me that it is the peculiarity of the Jews- may I say, the amiable peculiarity?- never to make converts. It would be so nice if you would take a leaf out of their book, when we have the happiness of receiving you here. My lively imagination pictures you in a double character. Father Benwell everywhere else; and- say, the patriarch Abraham at Ten Acres Lodge”.

Father Benwell describes Miss Eyrecourt as “a Protestant, with all the prejudices incident to that way of thinking”. The hypocritical priest, who can be seen as a reflection of the Church, also says, “There is something quite revolting to me in a deceitful woman”. Romayne reprimands his wife and tells her to be more tolerant of other forms of Christianity.

Upset that Romayne and her daughter marry with only five people in attendance, Mrs. Eyrecourt insists on making it right with Society by throwing a proper wedding celebration that includes a long list of guests, a ball with a small orchestra, a feast fit for kings, and decorating of the estate. “Among the social entertainments of the time, general curiosity was excited, in the little sphere which absurdly describes itself under the big name of Society” when instead of a grand ball with a fine food, Lady Loring hosted a more casual Sandwich Dance. It was a “bold protest against late hours and heavy midnight meals”.

Written in 1881, the Black Robe differs in structure and style than Collins’s earlier, acclaimed classics the Woman in White and the Moonstone. If starting the Black Robe thinking it’ll be a suspenseful mystery, one will be disappointed. Letters, diary entries, and third person narrations are used to coherently tie the epistolary novel together.

Due to its content and style, I think the Black Robe is something readers either like or loathe. It started off a tad slowly before gaining steady momentum, but I “had” to finish the last hundred pages or so in one sitting. At times it was difficult to put down. I found this well-written and rather informative novel more interesting because of it’s portrayal of the religious views and biases. Other commentary about Victorian society has, for me, gotten repetitive. Surprisingly, a brief reference is made to Mr. Murthwaite, a traveler of India from the Moonstone. I’ve come to really like the writing of Collins, whose novels are so far three for three. Should one be wondering if I’ll read more by him, I already have A Rogue’s Life and Man and Wife in the queue for later on down the road.

Quotes:

• “Movement, perpetual movement, is a law of Nature.”
• “ART has its trials as well as its triumphs. It is powerless to assert itself against the sordid interests of everyday life. The greatest book ever written, the finest picture ever painted, appeals in vain to minds preoccupied by selfish and secret cares.”
• “A frivolous person is, in the vast majority of cases, a person easily persuaded to talk, and not disposed to be reticent in keeping secrets.”
• “It is one of the defects of a super-subtle intellect to trust too implicitly to calculation, and to leave nothing to chance.”

Destined for Magic: Jacqueline Carey Kisses and Bespells

Naamah’s Kiss

by

Jacqueline Carey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
After Santa Olivia, Carey’s stature as my favorite author was assured. Naamah’s Kiss carved that distinction into marble. Any successive contenders for favorite author will have tall plinths to ascend before their names can be carved near the zenith.

Departing chronologically but not spiritedly from my beloved characters in the Kushiel’s Legacy, this generational descendant retains the compassion and character and thrill and intelligence of its predecessors. Rather than merely reacquaint us solely with D’Angeline society as it has progressed over four generations, Carey starts us in the wilds of Alba with a descendant of Alais, now referred to as Alais the Wise, who is part of a family branch that followed the isolationist nature of the still mistrusted Maghuinn Donn: Moirin, great granddaughter to my beloved princess who matured to inspire Alba.

Alais’ great granddaughter has no less a grand destiny to fulfill; indeed, it is this destiny that fuels her outward exploration. Thematically central, the thread of destiny remains ever present to Moirin as she literally feels her destiny respond to the courses she ponders. It is this internal compass that propels or hinders her along the way, the impetus that sends her beyond one ocean to Terre d’Ange, and then beyond a greater ocean to distant and newly connected, yet forbidding Ch’in.

Magic is much more prevalent for Moirin and a greater factor in Naamah’s Kiss, taking on a larger presence than in the Kushiel’s Legacy sextuplet. Moirin lives with magic, having inherited through her ancestry from Alais and the Maghuinn Donn gifts that many thought lost. She hears the call of the bear goddess of the Maghuinn Donn, but also feels and is guided by the presence of the D’Angeline consorts Naamah and Anael. Weaving together with her demanding destiny, this exploration of magic and divinity compels a significant part of the story and positions Moirin in spheres of intrigue and power to which her naivete is quickly forced to adapt.

Despite her humble upbringing in the wilds of Alba, or perhaps due to it, Moirin has a lusty desire to learn, explore her nature, and follow the call of her destiny. This often manifests as a stubborn streak, which combines with her naive charm to engender a new character Carey has created that has stolen my heart. Methinks Naamah would be especially pleased by this.

View all my verbose reviews >>

Theology Through a Glass Darkly

What is the relationship between faith and understanding? Yes I know Anselm’s dictum of “faith seeking understanding” (Augustine said the same before him), but how does this actually flesh itself out? And if faith is equated with ever-increasing understanding, then what does our lack of understanding say about our faith and about the nature of the Christian life?

These are questions not answered but nonetheless helpfully raised by Randal Rauser’s “Faith Lacking Understanding: Theology through a glass darkly” (with our move to Huntington behind me and my books on the office shelves, I have a bit more time to work down this stack of reviews for TF. Thank you Paternoster).

Rauser’s premise is simple: for the secular world and for many long-time Christians, the grand mysteries of the Christian confession are lost either in incredulity for former or over-familiarity in the case of the later. So Rauser works through each doctrine of the Apostles Creed – Trinity, creation, incarnation, ascension, and final judgment – pointing out logical, moral, or plausibility issues related to each, calling them instances of faith lacking understanding:

[The doctrines of the Apostles Creed] violate the basic dictates of logic, or our moral sense, or minimal plausibility in light of our scientific understanding of the world … our attempts to understand each of these core doctrines of faith is blocked by a seemingly insurmountable cliff of mystery be it illogicality, immorality, or implausibility (p. 5).

Having raised issues for each doctrine he lays out various (broadly evangelical) options for addressing them. These are helpful and Rauser is clearly in touch with contemporary and classical scholarship, but he doesn’t do what I most anticipated: wrestle with the basic relationship between faith and understanding.

He touches on this briefly in the introduction (p. 10f), and by not giving the reader one explanation or option for each issue he makes an implicit point about multiple options for understanding, but he fails to explicitly press it. It is not that I am allergic to accounts of the Christian life that include “faith seeking understanding”, but I worry that one’s pursuit of understanding is often overplayed. Related to this, if we frame the Christian life entirely in the cognitive register then we have little resource to talk about the spiritual lives of those with limited (or no) intellectual capacity, such as those with serious brain injuries or others born with serious mental disabilities.

I understand that these were not part of Rauser’s intent writing this book. It reads like a brief introduction to Christian belief set to the music of the modern skeptic. And as such the book would be a valuable resource for Sunday school classes tired of the same old materials or could even be used as a supplementary text in an undergraduate introduction to theology course (perhaps something to generate group discussion).

But Rauser still leaves me wondering about the fundamental relationship between faith and understanding. What has been the experience in your Christian community? How are faith and understanding related to one another, and how do you find that relationship helpful or harmful?

The Grace of Silent Retreat by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Silent Retreat is an opportunity to step out of daily activities and profoundly rest as deep silence. This stillness is the aliveness that is already within you, untouched by the ego, its time and suffering. This is an extraordinary chance to realize the Heart that you genuinely are at the core of being through being present, deep resting and Self-inquiry.

Gathering together for an extended period in the frequency of satsang, you may realize the conscious freedom and causeless joy that is endlessly available through spiritual awakening, enlightenment and Self-realization. With the rare guidance and support that only true satsang can offer, it is a time to at last discover the truth of one’s being or to deepen, integrate and “stabilize” that profound realization.

Silent retreat is an intimate and safe place to expose the lie of every imagined obstacle to lasting happiness that is the birthright of every human being. It is a private time to focus on what you truly want, what really matters and then tell the truth about that revelation.

Retreat is one of radical relaxation to allow the ego, its anxieties and fears to totally unwind. With all daily needs taken care of for you, there are no distractions and you are able to effortlessly focus. When all falls away, you realize that what remains is an unspeakable sacredness, a field of pure potentiality that is eternal peace, bliss and wise love that has no opposition whatsoever. This shift is called Self-realization and it is the conscious and permanent fulfillment of the human being.

Perhaps you have assumed that a life that is totally free of negativity and suffering is utterly impossible. While we are required to explore this altered state of consciousness to its core, when the divided mind dissolves and we realize its illumination, it is the permanent end to all suffering. In fact, it is realized that suffering is no longer even possible!

This is far more than a “personal” freedom. There are universal reference points through which one will inevitably seem to pass and as one shifts deeper, the life situation and indeed the world situation effortlessly shifts on its own accord. In the end, the mind is only a mirror and when the “fog” on the mirror burns away, we have a perfect reflection of the Heart.

When we allow this realization to fully integrate, we no longer have a Source from which “all else” flows (duality and separation). We discover that we are living in a virtual paradise that reflects the basic goodness, selfless service, true compassion and unconditional love that is the Heart of all being.

I am not asking you to “believe” this. I am only inviting you to look, pointing where to look, and in what manner. Then, it is up to you. In this willingness, this realization is profoundly direct. Instead of doubt, confusion, frustration, misunderstanding and detours to Self-realization, we have harmony, simplicity and right understanding of the false. This is not a trivial matter. When it is said that you are the key to world transformation, it is a virtual truth.

While you may be perhaps prepared for an earthquake, are you prepared to be shaken awake? I have been traveling since 1999 and meeting a worldwide Heart family. The greater awakening is alive and flourishing … so magnificently beautiful! By now, one could say that this shift is inevitable! Self-realization is not reserved for saints and sages. How could it be so, when it is the very essence that you already are?

Katie Davis, author of Awake Joy, is presently offering two silent retreats with satsang. The Mediterranean Retreat September 16-20 and the Magnificence! Silent Retreat and Satsang February 11-16 at a private spa estate upcountry Maui with Sundance Burke, author of Free Spirit. Registration is open at www.KatieDavis.org/MediterraneanRetreat.html and www.KatieDavis.org/MauiRetreat.html.

The Katie Davis Satsang Schedule is offering satsang in Seattle, Bellevue Washington, Valencia Spain, Bristol and London England, A Weekend of Satsang and Song in Paris France with music by Alexandra Cherrington, Keynote Presenter at the Body Soul and Spirit Expo at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver BC and Vancouver Satsang.

Please visit www.KatieDavis.org/Schedule.html for more information.

Book Review: Runner

This summer, you can submit book reviews during our Summer Reading Program and earn an extra grand prize ticket.

Carl Deuker’s Runner may be on your school’s summer reading list.  Here’s a review by Maureen H.  Warning, some spoilers!

“This book was about Chance Taylor and how he and his father are living poorly in Seattle and Chance gets a job delivering packages.  He doesn’t know what’s in the packages, but he and his father find out they’re plastic explosives.  When he comes to legal authorities, they figure it is a terrorist attack and use him to stop it.  Chance loses his father, but saves many more.”

Maureen H. gives Runner 5 out of 5 stars.

Lies really ARE bad.

What I Saw and How I Lied

By Judy Blundell

New York, Scholastic, 2008, 281 pgs.

World War II has just ended. Evie and her mother are happy to have the man of the house, Joe Spooner return. Evie’s mother Beverly married Joe shortly before the war began and they finally have the opportunity to live together as a family. Joe is a successful businessman but receives mysterious phone calls from people who seem to want money from him. After one of these phone calls, Joe decides to take his wife and step daughter to Palm Beach, Florida for a surprise vacation. In Florida, Evie begins to realize that her family is not as innocent as she thought. A handsome ex-GI named Peter Coleridge takes interest in Evie and she immediately falls for him despite his mysterious connection to her father, Joe.

Meanwhile, Evie’s mother is still treating her like a little girl, not the lovely teenager she’s becoming. There’s quite a bit of talk about clothing styles and what little girls wear as opposed to grown-up girls, which is a sign of the time in which this story takes place. Beverly doesn’t want her to wear dresses or lipstick, even though she loves to flaunt her own beauty. When Evie takes matters into her own hands and dresses in Beverly’s clothing, she feels better. However, when her mother and Mrs. Grayson (a guest of the hotel in which they are staying) interrupt her, they laugh and decide to give her a ‘makeover’ as if she’s their little doll. Evie feels very embarrassed by what they do to her and is feeling very low. On this particular night she meets Peter, who dances with her and makes her feel special.

The longer the Spooner’s stay in Florida, the more lies unravel. Peter confesses to E vie that he and her father, along with other American soldiers, stole things from a German warehouse; things that once belonged to the Jews and were confiscated by German soldiers. They take these things, candlesticks, rugs, jewelry, etc., because they want to make it rich back home. Joe ends up with all the money and Peter wants his share, a share Joe is not willing to part with. On top of this, the Graysons are kicked out of their Palm Beach hotel because it is discovered that they are Jewish causing the business deal between Joe and the Mr. Grayson to buy the hotel to turn sour. Finally, in a not so surprising twist of events, Evie discovers Peter has been having an affair with her mother and her world is torn apart.

The pot is about to boil on the morning when Peter, Joe, and Beverly rent a boat for a pleasure cruise despite an incoming hurricane. Evie is left behind and ends up at a hurricane shelter fearing her family and beloved are dead. In the morning, she is informed her parents are alive but Peter is missing and probably dead. Next is a whirlwind murder trial for Evie’s parents. Evie is almost sure they killed Peter but lies on the witness stand to kept her parents from going to jail.

I don’t know that I would have made the same decisions as Evie at the end of the book. To me, her parents were so low they deserved to go to jail. Her father was a lying thief and her mother a cheating, self-centered, you-know-what. Why did she lie to spare them? Evie seemed so angry and disgusted with them at the end of the book I was really surprised she did what she did. She undermined her own good reputation to save their pathetic ones. Of course, Evie does try to make things right with the Graysons and takes them a huge stash of Joe’s money as reparations for what he did to their people. I was slightly disappointed in this book. It was rather slow-going and predictable, with an ambiguous ending. However, the cover and title are very appealing and I think many teen girls will read it. I give it a 3Q and 3P VOYA rating.

Excusses Begone!

• Think small and accomplish big things.
• It seems that humans have the ability to change and even revers some of their genetic blueprints. Openness and curiosity, along with a desire to be free from excuses, are the basic prerequisites for learning about the exciting evidence concerning the genetic predisposition. – Further reading on Bruce Lipton, Ph. D. “The Biology of Belief”
• “Our life is what our thoughts make it” – Marcus Aurelius.
• “The mind’s highest good is the knowledge of God” – Benedict de Spinoza.
• Your creative consciousness has developed a weak connection that’s full of static, so its signals from a part of the infinite intellect of God are silenced by an ego-based accompaniment that broadcasts: What’s in for me? How do I Look? How much money cna i make? Hwo can I get ahead> Whom do I have to please> Why are there so many demans on me? And this thoughts come, then go, then come right back.

Blend of Mystique, Obscurity and Unadulterated Curiosity

“Hi Tim,

Wow! It took me some time to read and digest your book. I can only imagine how much effort and thought went there, Tim! How long did it actually take you to write the book?

The book offers a truly original outlook on life. It is a nice blend of mystique, obscurity and unadulterated curiosity. It might take an acquired taste to fully understand the author’s thirst for intangible and immaterial or his bold quest for other dimensions of his own realities. Through this search, he opens up almost every drawer of his private, personal and sub-conscientious closets. Some would take it as an abstract dream–the one they have never dreamt before.

Cordially, Irene”

— Irene Jeremic, Vancouver British Columbia Canada

Feedback about book “From Mayor to Fool” via email – 07/13/2009

Tim Mayeur:
It took virtually no time to write. It is what it is, transcribed sessions. Simply, raw unaltered experience – chaotically unfolded as efficient self exploration. In case you were curious, some predictions came true already and some definitely did not. INSIGHT was accurate; the others readings were helpful in self actualization. Will share with you that my friends Ben (the FLESH SMITH) and KALE did have a baby girl, he’s doing quite well at the job that fell on his lap, I did somehow end up moving to Toronto and have been taking classes: mixture of executive MBA and philosophy. Thanks again.

Tim Mayeur © 2009

Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon

No one wanted Ai Ling. And deep down she is relieved—despite the dishonor she has brought upon her family—to be unbetrothed and free, not some stranger’s subservient bride banished to the inner quarters.
But now, something is after her. Something terrifying—a force she cannot comprehend. And as pieces of the puzzle start to fit together, Ai Ling begins to understand that her journey to the Palace of Fragrant Dreams isn’t only a quest to find her beloved father but a venture with stakes larger than she could have imagined.
Bravery, intelligence, the will to fight and fight hard . . . she will need all of these things. Just as she will need the new and mysterious power growing within her. She will also need help.
It is Chen Yong who finds her partly submerged and barely breathing at the edge of a deep lake. There is something of unspeakable evil trying to drag her under. On a quest of his own, Chen Yong offers that help … and perhaps more.

Oh my goodness, you have to read this book. Cindy Pon is a wonderful writer! Silver Phoenix is action-packed! There are demons, monsters, gods as well as all the delicious mouthwatering Chinese food! There were a lot of surprises throughout the book which made me unable to put it down. Ai Ling and Chen Yong’s journey to the Palace is filled with breathtaking descriptions of the picturesque scenery.

Ai Ling is great character who we should all admire. She is very courageous and definitely someone I would love to be friends with! It’s good to know that Ai Ling knows how to read as girls in China in the past did not know how to read and write. Chen Yong is gallant and a likable character. Chen Yong’s younger brother is quirky and very comical. Awesome characters!

Silver Phoenix is a beautifully written novel with a unique plot. It is a refreshing read compared to all the vampire novels (not that vampire novels are bad). It is truly an excellent debut novel, highly recommended. Once you finished it, you will be dying for a sequel. And yes, Cindy is curently working on the sequel!

Gold star!

Just a little additional info, modern day China, in the city area, (e.g. Beijing, Shanghai) is very hip and modern. They have malls there as well as fast-food outlets. However the country side is a different thing.

The Rain Falls on Bad Moon Rising (a book review...)

Let me provide a warning right up front…   If you’re a huge John C. Fogerty (JCF) fan and wish to remain as such, you may not want to read this book.   If you’re on the fence about Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) and not sure whether they were a great band or simply both a lucky and extraordinarily unlucky one, this book may convince you that the latter is more likely the case.   This band biography is simply not a pretty picture which is why Bad Moon Risingis subtitled, “The Unauthorized History of CCR.”

How bad does JCF come off here?   On page 293 of this 316-page treatise, he’s quoted as saying:  “We call these Beatles songs and I guess we call them Monkees songs, and in my case we call them Creedence songs.   But actually, John Fogerty wrote all the songs.   So I think now that I’m out in this limelight, I’m going to try and straighten out that misconception.”

Ouch!   Not only does JFC compare CCR to both Those Guys and The Monkees, but he refers to himself (Himself?) in the third person.   The book does, on the plus side, clear up the misconception that JCF refused to appear at the deathbed of his brother Tom.   But little else here puts either JCF or the two other surviving CCR members – now in Creedence Clearwater Revisited – in a positive light.

Slogging through this book is like revisiting the worst parts of your own family’s history while watching an unpleasant soap opera on the tube.   And remember all those stories about Saul Zaentz, founder and head of Berkeley-based Fantasy Records, as the supposed bad guy (which culminated with JCF’s solo song Zanz Can’t Dance/Vanz Can’t Dance)?   There’s little here dealing with this, which may even be fortunate.

Bottom line, there’s more unsaid than said in this not so definitive book which was advertised as covering “30-odd years of legal wrangling, thwarted ambitions and lost potential.”   Lost potential for the reader, definitely.

For me, it has been more difficult to listen to either JCF or CCR since reading this book.   No more unauthorized band biographies for me, as long as I can see the light.

Reprinted courtesy of the Troy Bear blog; originally posted on April 27, 2009.

Drinking to Excess

My own relationship with drinking begins four summers ago. I had just turned 18 and my best friend’s family took us on a week-long vacation to an all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean. Impossibly white beaches, pristine kidney-shaped pools, and free strawberry daiquiris? My kind of holiday. I had never been drunk before that trip, but the minute I stood up after my third daiquiri I felt strangely light-headed. My 33-year-old male companion walked me back and had to open my room for me when I couldn’t quite make the key enter the lock. I eventually had my first – and only – “older man” sexual adventure with that very same man…but that’s a story for a different post (long story short, I found out that age does NOT preclude skill in the bedroom).

While my fling with an older man was brief, my relationship with booze was just beginning. I entered college with the new-found confidence that only a shot of cheap vodka can give a girl. I recall on the first weekend of college, Harlequin brought me to her room and showed me her stockpile of Coronas and vodka-filled water bottles. We dipped into her stash, only to get busted by campus safety. It was the first and last time we had access to such classy drinks during our freshman year of college.

Alcohol abuse becomes a lifestyle in college. For those too young to easily procure alcohol, every encounter is precious – better to binge now, lining your arteries with a slick layer of liquor, because you never know when you’ll get another chance. Once booze becomes readily available, interest wanes for a brief period – been there, done that. But get your hands on a fake ID or celebrate your 21st birthday and watch the thirst return full-force. Bars are on an entirely different level from keg parties. Not only are the drinks better (no more Keystone, please!) but the men are older and more than willing to buy a pretty young coed a shot of tequila.

By no stretch of the imagination am I am alcoholic. I rarely black out and I’ve never thrown up from consuming too much alcohol. I have, however, encountered hangovers that stretch into the lazy hours of Saturday afternoons. I have been wasted enough to fight with boyfriends, flirt with the wrong men, and – hitting a personal all-time low – break my elbow attempting to jump over a couch.

They tell you in high school that alcohol is a downer, a depressant. I never understood that. Alcohol makes me happy; it’s the tastiest of social lubricants. As someone prone to anxiety and depression, alcohol has become a helpful buffer between me and the rest of the world on many an occasion. I realized quickly, however, that alcohol is, in fact, a downer…the effects of which you don’t always feel until the next morning. The anxiety I experience during the throes of a hangover is crippling. I analyze every detail of every minute of the night before – it is times like these I wish I actually did black out, because then my mind would be a comforting blank slate.

In a week and a half, I will be 21. While I’ve been sneaking into bars for months now, this will be a defining moment in my friendship with alcohol. Once I’m legal, the responsibility of self-restraint and self-control lies firmly in my own hands. I’d like to think that I will handle this new-found privilege with moderation and maturity. It is far too easy to forget, while you’re downing an Amstel Light, that excessive drinking causes liver problems and other health risks. At the time, it just seems like another drink, another night. At some point, we have to address whether we drink to escape or enhance our lives. I hope I fall in the latter category, but only time can tell.

XXXX

Want to read one woman’s harrowing memoir of her alcohol abuse? I just finished Koren Zailckas’s Smashed and highly recommend it. Not only does she give us an unflinchingly honest account of her binge drinking, but she has quite a flair for writing. I found it to be a great read – and she’s a feminist to boot! Check out her book here, or her website here.

I’ve added Smashed to the Rotten Reading List!

XXXX

What is your relationship with alcohol?

- Dollface

Ben Marcus to be a Consulting Editor of Interlitq

The Editors of “The International Literary Quarterly” are delighted to announce that Ben Marcus, an Associate Professor and Chair of Creative Writing at Columbia University, author of works of fiction such as “Notable American Women”, “The Father Costume” and “The Age of Wire and String”, editor of the anthology “The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories”, here talking with Deborah Eisenberg, and a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Award, three Pushcart Prizes, a fellowship from the Howard Foundation and a Whiting Writer’s Award, has kindly agreed to act as a Consulting Editor of the review with effect from Issue 8.

Coming Very Soon: The Accidental Billionaires

This looks like an interesting book: The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook.  Not so much the sex part that seems a part of the story, but the founding of Facebook part.  It’s out in mid-July 2009.

Here’s a description:

“Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg were Harvard undergraduates and best friends–outsiders at a school filled with polished prep-school grads and long-time legacies. They shared both academic brilliance in math and a geeky awkwardness with women.

[O]ne lonely night, Mark hacked into the university’s computer system, creating a ratable database of all the female students on campus–and subsequently crashing the university’s servers and nearly getting himself kicked out of school. In that moment, in his Harvard dorm room, the framework for Facebook was born.

What followed–a real-life adventure filled with slick venture capitalists, stunning women, and six-foot-five-inch identical-twin Olympic rowers–makes for one of the most entertaining and compelling books of the year. Before long, Eduardo’s and Mark’s different ideas about Facebook created in their relationship faint cracks, which soon spiraled into out-and-out warfare. The collegiate exuberance that marked their collaboration fell prey to the adult world of lawyers and money. The great irony is that while Facebook succeeded by bringing people together, its very success tore two best friends apart.”

The author, Ben Mezrich, has published a number of this type of book–readable, engrossing story, unpolished prose:

“Ben Mezrich, a Harvard graduate, has published ten books, including the New York Times bestseller Bringing Down the House. He is a columnist for Boston Common and a contributor for Flush magazine. Ben lives in Boston with his wife, Tonya.”

Sounds like a good airplane read.

To Read Or Not To Read?... That Is The Question

He who kills a man kills a reasonable creature,

but he who destroys a book destroys reason itself.

- John Milton.

 

My reading tastes tend to be eclectic.  What appeals to me in one genre, from one author may not appeal to me in or from  another.

What I am going to do here is give you my impressions of some of the more recent books I have read, and then give an honest review, good or bad.

And here is the first:

‘The Kult’ by Shaun Jeffrey

The Kult’ by Shaun Jeffrey is one of those rare books that pulls you in from the first few paragraphs and before you realize it, has insidiously gripped you firmly by the throat and wont let go…once started, you really can’t put it down.

 If you like your tale twisted and dark; if you require your violence to be graphic and disturbing, if you want characters to literally leap of the page at you with energy and verve; and if you demand more than just the average slash and stalk psychotic killer tale, then ‘The Kult’ is the perfect book for you.

 The plot is chillingly complex and without giving too much away revolves around what must be the epitome of serial killers; a sadistic psychopath who goes by the name of ‘The Oracle’ and the police detective, the intriguingly named Prosper Snow who is attempting to bring this maniacal killer to book.

 And as the story opens out the author suddenly takes his reader on a delicious roller-coaster of a plot curve when it is revealed that Snow has been involved in a vigilante type group founded several years earlier aptly named ‘The Kult’.

 Events boomerang for the detective when the same group blackmails him into participating in a horrific ‘copy-cat’ killing in the style of the sadistic ‘Oracle’.

 And now catching the killer is no longer just a job for Prosper Snow; it really is a matter of life or death. The vicious serial killer has targeted the members of ‘The Kult’ for slaughter.

 ‘The Kult’ is an extremely finely crafted genre novel from Shaun Jeffrey; a book that quickly draws the reader in, hooks them firmly and then keeps them guessing from beginning to end.

 I have no doubt that this novel will prove to be only the beginning chapter in what will be a long and illustrious career for this author.

 I personally look forward with anticipation to his next!

‘The Kult’ is available direct from Leucrota Press at http://www.leucrotapress.com or at  www.amazon.com

ISBN 9 780980 033984

 

The Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb

The Dragon Keeper (The Rain Wild Chronicles) by Robin Hobb

ISBN-13: 978-0007273744

For the first time in several generations, a new crop of dragons are born in the lands of the Rain Wilds.  However, the creatures that emerge are far from the powerful, shining beasts of mythology.  These dragons are stunted, deformed and unable to fly.  Their inability to hunt for themselves means that they are dependent on the humans, so an uneasy alliance is forged.

The dragons cling to an ancient memory of a fabled city upriver, their true home.  But the city of Kelsingra doesn’t appear on any map and without human help they would never be able to find it.  So a band of dragon keepers are assembled.  It’s a dangerous job, looking after charges who could turn vicious at any time, whilst also facing many perils in search of a city that may not even exist ….

Originally planned as a standalone novel set in the same world as Hobb’s earlier stories, the length of the finished book necessitated it being split into two volumes.  The characterisation  is sharp, with well rounded personalities emerging from all the principal participants, both human and dragon.  An impressive fantasy novel from an experienced and popular writer, hopefully it won’t be long before the second book is published and the story is complete.

I have decided to use this blog for writing reviews of books, movies, and whatever else strikes my fancy.  I would like to keep my writing up to par and feel this will be a good way to do so. Keep your eyes peeled for a review of the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon.  I will most likely be finished reading this novel within the next week and will try my hand at writing a review of it soon after.  I know that many people have probably already reviewed this novel and future works I will dicuss, but that’s not important. What’s important is that I am writing and actually revealing it to the public. Enjoy!

Ragtime - E.L.Doctorow - A Review

Don’t play this piece fast. It is never right to play ragtime fast – Scott Joplin

The march of history is impersonal, relentless and randomly mechanistic in its own way. We just dont know in which direction the mechanism works. Maybe that prompted the famous historian Sir Herbert Butterfield to say that “History is just one bloody thing after another.” Shorn of any reverence and romanticism, I sometimes feel that history is just that – one bloody thing after another. Yet to look back at these sequentially bloody things and make sense of them can be a very fascinating experience. I always enjoyed reading books that gave me a sense of history. Especially those books which give me perspectives of history seen and experienced by ordinary people living through momentous changes. E.L.Doctrow’s  Ragtime is one such book that I have read in the recent past where history is blended with fiction to produce a brilliant concoction of fictionalised history

The book is set in the early twentieth century when America was witnessing massive influx of immigrants, rise of wallstreet barons like J.P.Morgan, dehumanising changes in manufacturing ushered by the introduction of assembly line by Henry Ford, struggling, tottering and oppressed trade unionism, rising acceptance of anarchism and feminism, altering race relationships especially the rise of militant rejoinders as form assertion of black identity, growing popularity of cinema and the ubiquitousness of railroads. Into this kaldeioscopic flux of developments, Doctorow introduces us to CoalHouse Walker – a highly accomplished black pianist who after extended life of a wandering musician, comes to reclaim his lover Sarah and their child of wedlock. Sarah and the child are under the protection of a liberal minded and sympathetic white couple. For a large part of the book the son of this couple is the main narrator in the book. Walker is well mannered and given to very stylish living. In the course of his visits to Sarah, he becomes a victim of racial abuse and his car gets vandalised. Failing to obtain appropriate redressal, Walker seeks revenge by declaring war on the fire service force of NewYork. Sarah gets killed trying to lodge a petition with high ranked politicians. Enraged by this huge personal loss and as a last resort, he and a band of his followers takeover the private museum of J.P. Morgan and threaten to blow it up with dynamites. In this quest for justice, Walker is joined by the brother of Sarah’s protector who is a white man and who embraces the anarchist views of Emma Goldman. On a different note Doctorow also builds the story of a socialist worker and artist Tateh who disillusioned by the futility of trade unionism embraces capitalist ethos and undertakes making of movies for mass consumption. By dint of force Walker gets back his car rebuilt by the same people who vandalised it but in the process of surrender gets shot. The narrator’s family and Tateh come closer with the narrator’s mother getting married to Tateh. As multiple strands of the story starts to get intertwined, Doctorow mixes history with fiction imaginatively and in the process the reader gets to see Booker T Washington, Houdini, Freud, Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson and the sowing of seeds for first world war along with a superb sense of the period

My first reaction to reading this book was a sense of disbelief for this was the kind of book I always wanted read and get to know of a writer who could write like this. Doctorow is outstanding in bringing the rage of an age to the fore. Fusing both fiction and fact, Doctorow builds unforgettable characters. CoalHouse Walker will remain as great a black character as Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom, William Styron’s Nat Turner or Braithwaite’s Mark Thackaray. Although he draws deeply from the wellsprings of modern history, the culling and subsequent marshalling of facts always remain subservient to the story telling. It is this aspect of the narration that I enjoyed immensely. Doctorow’s narrative skills are outstanding. There is a cleanness and ease to his prose that just grabs you from the word go. Consider two of his narrations. The first where the onset of spring is being described:

“Spring, spring! Like a mad magician flinging silks and coloured rags from his trunk the earth produced the yellow and white crocus, then the fox grape and forsythia flowering on its stalks, the blades of iris, the apple tree blossoms of pink and white and green, the heavy lilac and the daffodil. Grandfather stood in the yard and gaving a standing ovation. A breeze came up and blew from the maples a shower of spermatozoic soft-headed green buds. They caught in his sparse gray hair. He shook his head with delight, feeling a wreath has been bestowed…. everywhere the sap rose and birds sang” ……………….   or the march of Sarah’s hearse

“Sarah’s coffin was bronze. The hearse was a custome Pierce Arrow Opera Coach with an elongated passenger compartment and a driver’s cab open to weather. The top was railed with brass and banked with flowers. Black ribbon flew from the four corners of the roof. The car was so highly polished the boy could see in its rear doors a reflection of the entire street. Everything was black including the sky… There were several town cars for carrying the mourners to the cemetery. The mourners were mostly musicians….. They were Negro men with closely cropped hair, tightly buttoned dark suits, rounded collars and black ties. The women with them wore dresses that brushed the top of their shoes, wide-brimmed hats and small furs around their shoulders……….The cortege moved slowly. Children ran behind it and people on the sidewalks stopped to stare… Passengers on the trolley cars along the outer lanes of the bridge stood up in their seats to see the grand parade. The sun shone. Gulls rose from the water. They flew between the suspension cables and setlled along the railings as the last of the cars went by”  — this to me is like a cinematic view generated by the panning of the camera from all angles including the top (where are gulls are made to look on behalf of and for the readers)

With a bit of research on the web, I became aware that Ragtime was a kind of music popularised by Scott Joplin. It enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918 before being pushed aside by Jazz. I listened to the Maple Leaf Rag – a Joplin’s composition and was taken in by its rhythm, simplicity and appeal. The novel is also set during this period and deals with a musician who is deeply influenced by Scott Joplin. In fact at one place in the novel he plays this piece for the protectors of Sarah. Maybe it is a reason that prompted Doctorow to call this wonderful, deeply satisfying and remarkable book Ragtime. I rejoice that I have discovered E.L.Doctorow and now I am looking forward to reading his Loon lake and The Book of Daniel – both of which I have in my collection

Afterword: I listened to the rendition of Maple Leaf Rag by Gianni Guida on Youtube many times over and found it absolutely brilliant